Ancient Runes
by Echo Chambers
Summary: Lily and Belle were abandoned 3 yrs ago and live on the streets. She doesn't know her parents or past. A book of Runes can provide answers, but it's grey magic. Hiding her knowledge she must make the choces on her own. Family or morals. How can she choose
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Lily Evans and her little sister have been living on the streets for three years now and their family's history and whereabouts are a mystry to them. At Hogwarts a library book catches her attention and a facination with ancient runes provides tantalizing hints about her family. But runes are hardly safe for a child to play with. How much will she risk for knowledge and the possibility of being loved?

CHAPTER ONE:

The creation of the Hogwarts letter is a magical art that has been forgotten over the last couple hundred years. How the letters are made, and by whom they are written, is a mystery no one bothers to solve. Still, every July third, the annual letters find there way into the air and off to the young witches and wizards. The lack of true interest in the answer to this puzzle does not upset the mysterious creator. Unperturbed, it diligently continues it's work in the dusty attic behind the unlocked door at the top of the molding staircase hidden by the false wall and faded tapestry of Helga's cousin's wedding in the East tower.

It is strange for such an unhidden place to be such a secret. The floor is bare wood, the celling is slanted by the roof and home to spiders and a nest of wasps. In the center of the room, an ancient mystery of Hogwarts sits in plain sight.

Works, rather. For the quill was not idle. Rushing around in a feverish haste a foofy old quill scribbled the last words in the letters it had created months ago. Dear Mr. Euyn, Dear Miss. Evans, Dear Mr. Finish… The pile of finished letters grew rapidly into a teetering stack, yet before the last straw killed the camel, the quill was resting in the ink bottle and the envelopes floated forward. The letters folded themselves in three and jumped inside and were sealed. They re-stacked themselves in alphabetical order and for a moment everything stopped. With a dejected slump of it's feathered head, as if it were sighing, the quill heaved itself from the emerald green ink and began scribbling away.

Mr. A. Dodger

Upper bedroom

439 Hideaway st

Hilsburrow

Kent

Mr. K Euyn…

Bored and quickly tiring, the quill almost miswrote the next address

Miss. L. Evans

Basement

Unnamed alley

London

London

Unnamed alley? The basement?! How in the world would the owls find this one? Deciding the ancient address book had finally begun to loose it's magic, the quill sent the letter off to another pile. How strange. Whatever.

Mr. N. Finish

East bedroom

37 Ruggles Ave…

Owls came and went, collecting the letters as they were finished, but Miss. Evans' letter sat on the desk's corner and weighed heavily on the quills mind. What to do, oh what to do. As Miss. Zephra's letter flew out the window, and the last owl perched on the sill, the quill finally decided. He'd send the letter anyways. If it came back unopened - well it was the books fault.

XXXOXXX

In an unnamed alley, in the overcrowded city of London, Lily Evans held her sisters hand. Belle tugged her collar back onto her shoulder. The shirt's sleeves were rolled four times just to show her fingers and the bottom hem landed somewhere just above her knees. Scuffing her ratty tennis shoes on the pavement she frowned, but kept silent. Lily squeezed her hand and smiled. "You'll grow into it. Let's go." In silence, they walked away, tennis shoes whispering on the pavement.

The cackling of black birds and scuttling of rats faded away as the pair approached the more popular streets of London. Cars crowded the streets in the morning rush, and hurried citizens rushed by on their way to work. Jostled by the uncaring people, Lily gripped Belle's hand tighter. Waiting at a crosswalk Lily looked around. A woman with permed hair and large earrings looked at them with disgust. A tall black man was talking heatedly on a cell phone. A nervous business man clutching the handle of a leather briefcase in a death grip moved from foot to foot anxiously at the edge of the sidewalk. Belle yawned.

The signal changed, the crowd rushed across, and Belle and Lily took a left. Peering through the tall masses, Lily could just make out the blue corner of a familiar sign peeking from behind a neon tattoo ad. Quickening the pace, Belle grinned, her stomach rumbling. Even a shop away the rich smells of Great Harvest bread hung tantalizingly thick in the air. Pushing open the glass door they stepped inside.

The room was crowded, as usual. Stressed adults were buying morning scones and muffins as a healthy breakfast on the go. Lily and Belle hung back, knowing the danger of getting between coffee-lacking workers and their food. They took a seat and waited. It didn't take long. The last of the morning rusher's were quickly gone. Standing up, Lily followed Belle to the counter, gazing at the mouth-watering samples they had set out on display. Behind the counter a girl with bleach-blonde hair and a nose piercing like a bull smiled at them. "Would you like a free sample?"

"Yes miss. May I have a slice of the Apple Crunch?" Still smiling, must be in the contract, the girl handed her a thick slice. The warm bread tasted delicious. Belle was peering over the counter on her tippy-toes.

"I'd like some Cinnamon Chip bread."

"Please," Lily reminded her. The worker laughed, as Belle corrected herself and handed Belle an extra big slice. Belle grinned.

"Would you like anything else?" When Lily shook her head, the worker stopped smiling, seeming to realize what they were: homeless wretches taking advantage of company policy. Lily ignored this and left, taking Belle's hand once again.

Back across the crosswalk, three stores over, stood a used book store squished between a record shop and computer store. Lily grinned as she saw the elderly man propping open the door and flipping over the 'closed' sign. "Hi Mr. Quiggle!"

Mr. Quiggle was an elderly gentleman with a big heart and horribly arthritic fingers. He was also very naive. Under the impression that Lily just wanted some extra spending money he paid her five pounds a day to come in and help him shelve books, clean, or organize depending on his mood. With that money, Lily could get dinner every day and save up enough for supper on the weekend and, over the months, even buy things like sweaters and shoes.

"Hello Lily, Belle. It's looking to be a fine day, don't you think?" He said, peering up at the sky through silver spectacles. "I've decided to do some cleaning. It's really getting far too dusty." Lily nodded and helped Belle roll up her sleeves another notch and knot the huge shirt at her waist. They followed him inside and Lily couldn't help but agree. Cobwebs hung in the high corners and dust lightly coated unpopular shelves. The lightbulb by the fairy-tale section had died and needed replacing, and a few books sat around waiting to be shelved. Taking the offered dust rag she got to work in the children's section, knowing that Belle would tire out quickly and want to read.

As she worked, she also realized it was about time to reorganize. It wasn't bad, but between the row of Spot books sat a Sleeping Beauty story, and atop the K's lay Spanish II which was in the wrong area completely. Humming to herself Lily cleaned beside little Belle keeping her on track with gentle words and quiet conversation. Still, a mere two rows later, as predicted, Belle was done. Putting away her rag she went to find a story to read. Lily sighed, and smiled at her innocence. She'd do anything to protect that. Scrubbing a little harder, she gave a half-smile as she acknowledge just how much she'd already given up: schooling, friends, her childish light heartedness. But she knew she'd give it all up again at the drop of a hat, because it was worth it, every little bit. Carrying a sleeping two year old Belle on her shoulder as she searched desperately for food in the dumpsters, going hungry to save the money for Belle's cold medicine, shivering in the snow to keep Belle warm, maturing quickly to raise Belle right, stealing when other children were at school, later working instead. It was all worth it.

The city clock struck one and Lily knew that Belle was getting cranky and hungry three rows over. She frowned. If only she had more money, she could buy Belle lunch, but it was hard enough getting dinner with the five pounds. She knew it wasn't healthy, a five year old eating two meals a day. She could see it in Belle's bony figure and growling stomach. Yet, she couldn't steal again. She had an example to set for Belle, and her own morals to improve. She'd stolen only once before, when they had literally gone for days without food. Pushing the depressing thoughts aside, Lily opened the bottle of wood polish.

A few hours later and Mr. Quiggle was closing up shop. "Thank you for helping me today Lily. We got a lot done. You too Miss Belle. You did well. What did you read?"

"Spot books." He smiled.

"Good, we'll have to read together tomorrow, how does that sound?"

Belle grinned excitedly. "That sounds fun!" On relaxed days, Mr. Quiggle enjoyed teaching Belle how to read and write. Lily was thankful for his help. Though he didn't know it, that was all the schooling Belle was able to receive as they didn't have the parents or guardians required for signing up for school. Lily herself had dropped out in the middle of second grade when they'd ended up on the streets. She missed the friends and learning, but she was doing alright. Mr. Quiggle let her read his books if she finished early, which on most days she did, and so her reading was up to level. The low spots were just everything else.

With the five pounds in her pocket, Lily said goodbye and took Belle's hand. "Where do you want to eat?"

XXXOXXX

The sun was setting when Lily and Belle returned to the unnamed alley. Glancing around to see if anyone was watching, they hurried to a wall at the base of which was a window. Pushing it open Belle dropped inside, quickly followed by Lily who shut the window behind them. Looking around, she saw the small basement was as it usually was. A pile of blankets made their bed in the corner a grocery bag held their winter sweaters, mittens and scarves. An empty box held other necessities like the hair comb, water bottle and savings jar containing three and a half pounds. Opening that first, Lily added the quarter pound that was leftover from dinner.

She had just settled down on the bed to comb out her hair when she heard a knocking noise. Freezing, her eyes sought out Belle who quickly scurried over to the bed. Huddling together they feared the worst. Who had found them? A creep? A huge sewer rat? Maybe - She heard it again. The window. Carefully she inched over until she could see outside. She squinted through the dark. It wasn't a person…

It stared at her, it's large amber eyes unblinking. In it's beak it held a piece of paper. It knocked again and Lily had no choice but to believe that it wanted to come in and that the paper was for her. Belle appeared by her elbow. "The bird wants in." Lily nodded, and slowly walked over, careful not to spook it. It kept staring. Reaching up she opened the window and it fluttered inside, dropping the letter in her hand and flying back out again. Lily shut the window behind it.

In the fading light she and Belle stared at the strange letter. In an emerald pen someone had written her name. Her name, and her house, and they even knew that her street was unlabeled. How did they know? Rather freaked out, Lily turned it over and saw it was sealed, with wax. Not some silly sticker like April had always used. And, now that she thought about the norm, the paper was different too, heavier. Breaking the seal she pulled out the letter and read. And read it again. This person thought she was a WHAT? Very freaked out by then, Lily read the letter to Belle who, of course, was thrilled with the idea. Idea. Neither of them really believe it. The letter said someone would come in two days. She shrugged and put the letter in the clothes bag. If they came, cool. If not, whatever. She had more important things to do than worry about such oddities.

Still, they knew where she lived. Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she sat back down and combed her hair like she'd attempted to do five minutes before. Braiding it, she then began to gently work out the knots in Belle's curly locks. Belle bit back her complaints and yawned. Soon she was tucked in bed, Lily rubbing her back soothingly as she stared tiredly at the deep scar in the wall above their bed, faintly visible in the darkness.

Snoring softly, Belle mumbled as Lily took her hands away and crawled in beside her. "Don't worry Belle, believe in me 'cause I'll make everything alright." Closing her eyes, Lily followed her sister to sleep.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Two days later, Belle was reading with Mr. Quiggle, sitting beside him at a book-covered desk in the back, and Lily was finishing the mass-cleaning. Dusting the display case and absentmindedly gazing at passersby Lily was shocked out of a daydream by the weirdest sight. Now, most people walked quickly down the street, focused on their final destination with a fierce determination dressed smartly in their business clothes. However, crossing the crosswalk that Lily and Belle used everyday was the strangest woman Lily had ever seen.

Walking slowly and looking all around her as if she was lost, or taking in the scenery with a crazy obsession for detail, she didn't wait for the walk signal, nor did she pay any attention to the fast-moving taxi that came to a screeching stop to avoid hitting her. In fact, she seemed quite oblivious to everything bigger than the minute detail in the street lamps and traffic signs. As the swearing taxi driver sped off she walked down the sidewalk towards the book store. Lily stared out of the corner of her eye as she dusted "Great Expectations" and "The Odyssey". The woman was wearing sneakers and tall socks beneath an orange plaid skirt into which she had tucked a clashing Tie-dye tee shirt. A long necklace of huge wooden beads hung down to her navel. And, her eyebrow was pierced.

The woman glance at the display case, smiled at Lily, read the wooden sign hanging above the door, and walked inside to a chorus of tinkling bells that Mr. Quiggle had tied to his door a year ago. Lily heard Belle's lesson end and moments later saw Mr. Quiggle smiling at the customer. "Hello, how are you today?"

"I'm doin' okay. Technically I'm supposed to be looking for a kid named Evans-" Lily's head jerked up. It was two days later, was the woman a witch? "-but I haven't really started yet."

"_Lily_ Evans?" Mr. Quiggle asked, his brown eyes nearly bugging out of his head in surprise. "What ever for?"

"Oh, boarding school stuff. You know her?"

"Yeah, Lily, come here!" Nervously, Lily put down the dust rag and wiped off her shirt.

"Hi, I'm Lily Evans." Belle had appeared at her elbow. "And this is my sister Belle." The woman was looking at her with almost as much shock as Lily was looking at her.

"H-hi. I'm Professor Thyme. You got the letter right?" Lily nodded. "Mr. Quiggle, would you mind if I took the girls out to ice cream? We have a lot to talk about." Mr Quiggle smiled enthusiastically at her.

"Of course, no problem! A boarding school. Well done Lily. You never told me you were doing so well in class!" Grinning he went back to the books and left Lily to take Belle's hand and follow the weird woman cautiously.

Lily stared quietly, but the silence was quickly broken by an excited Belle: "We get ice cream?!"

An hour and an ice cream cone later, magic had been demonstrated, the houses and classes explained, the idea of a possible scholarship tossed around, and one huge problem still remained: "I'm not going to Hogwarts without Belle."

"Hogwarts doesn't take children under eleven." Professor Thyme tried to explain. "The school isn't set up for such things. The house system, classes, everything - even the layout of the school itself - was designed for older kids."

"Then I'm sorry, I can't go. I couldn't possibly leave Belle."

"She'll be fine. Loads of other kids have younger siblings, sure it's hard at first, but she'll get used to being alone with Mum and Dad and you'll get used to Hogwarts." Lily suddenly laughed as she realized the misunderstanding.

"You don't get it. Sorry, I thought I'd already told you. We're on our own, me and Belle. We don't have no parents or guardians. If I were to go - which I'm not - I'd be leaving Belle, completely alone. No food, no money, no nothin'." Belle leaned against her shoulder, relieved that her sister wasn't going to leave her all alone. For a terrifying moment she'd thought Lily might leave her for magic.

"You live on your own? Like, on the streets?" she asked, taken aback. Lily eyed her guardedly, and nodded. "I'll have to talk to Dumbledore," Professor Thyme decided. "How about I do that now, and I'll meet you again tomorrow at the shop. You'll be there at ten, right?" Lily nodded and they all stood up. "Good, See ya later."

"Bye."

Back at the shop, Mr. Quiggle met them at the door. "Belle, I found another few books you might really like." Grinning she ran inside. "A boarding school!" he muttered to himself. "You'd better go. An opportunity like this is just too good to miss!" and with those enthusiastic words, he left Lily to her thoughts. A boarding school, for the WHOLE year. And, they knew about her. Lily had told the professor about being homeless. What if they tried to put them in an orphanage? Or worse, separate them. They were doing FINE! A little hungry at times, a little cold in winter, but they had each other and Mr. Quiggle's kindness. They were alright.

Lily hoped that Mr. Bumblebee, or what ever his name was, would let Belle tag along. Then Lily could learn, and maybe they'd even teach Belle as well! If Belle could go… well Lily really hoped she could. Because secretly she REALLY wanted to go to that school.

The next morning Lily woke up early and sat for a while, just thinking. So much had happened yesterday. Magic was real. There was a school to teach magic. There was even a whole community of magical people hidden from the majority of the world. And SHE had magic. Lily sure hoped that Dumblebee would let Belle go along. Stretching her hands above her head Lily decided to not think about it. Bumbledoor would decide what he wanted and she couldn't change that. It was useless to worry over it. Slipping out of the bed, careful not to wake Belle, Lily layered on a long sleeve shirt to ward off the morning chill. Ten o' clock would come same as always and she would know his verdict then.

Still, Lily couldn't help but keep glancing at the door all morning. What had the headmaster decided? Finally, the city clock rang out ten, and minutes later Thyme was walking in the door. Lily jumped up from where she'd been crouched shelving books and rushed over. "What-?"

Thyme's face betrayed neither good nor bad news. "Professor Dumbledore offers you a full scholarship. But, he'd like to talk to you, in person, about Belle. I can take you now…?" Lily glanced around for Mr. Quiggles permission, knowing the old man would've been listening. He nodded, and Lily nodded, and Thyme led the way out the door and into the shadows, Lily and Belle tagging along. "This," she pulled out a notebook, "is a portkey. If you touch it at the right time, it will take you to Hogwarts. Ten seconds left, so hold on."

Lily took hold of the dog-eared corner just in time. There was a horrible jerk behind her belly button that knocked the wind out of her, and she was off spinning in circles at the speed of light. Clenching her eyes shut, she winced as Belle slammed repeatedly against her shoulder. That would bruise. Seconds later the spinning came to a startling halt and Lily was thrown to the ground, Belle thumping down beside her.

The first thing Lily's dizzy mind took in was that the ground was amazingly soft. Opening her eyes she came face-to-face with thick violet carpet. Rolling over she looked around. She was lying in a circular room with bookshelves reaching up to the celling. Spindly, delicate looking objects were scattered around on tables and a large window sat behind big desk behind which sat a man who had to be Dumbledore. As he smiled at them and offered a candy, which they both accepted, Lily stared fascinated at the moving pictures that decorated the walls. Like television, only painted and seemingly unscripted, the drawings moved around. A fat woman who was snoring in a blue armchair reached up to swat away a fly. To her left a glaring man argued with a old woman. Tossing her brown hair over her shoulder she flounced out of the picture, and appeared in the one right beside it! Lily gaped openly as the woman pouted and the glaring man sneered. A gentle cough brought her attention to the man before her.

She blushed, but he smiled at her. "Yes, very interesting aren't they. Phinius and Annibellah do delight in a daily argument"

Belle tugged at her sleeve and whispered in a loud voice Dumbledore pretended not to hear, "He looks like Merlin!" she said referring to her favorite fairytale. Lily hushed her and turned apologetically to Professor Dumbledore.

"Sorry, I guess we got a bit distracted. You wished to speak with us?"

"Yes, I'm afraid its not as pleasant a conversation as one about portraits. Ah well. I felt the need to speak with you in person about the upcoming year because it really is crucial that you get magical education, and it is not possible for Miss. Belle to come along with you. Is there no family she could stay with?" he asked, knowing very well that there was not.

"No sir. We're on our own."

"Yes, well. What if I found you a foster family. Together of course." Lily looked skeptical.

"You want to find some family to dump us off with? Belle will still be with strangers the whole year." Beside her Belle reached for her hand. Lily squeezed reassuringly. She'd keep Belle safe, no matter what.

"It's not wonderful, but you need a magical education because you're powers will grow and without control you will end up accidentally doing things you'll regret. And, if you move in soon the family wont be strangers by the time September rolls around." Lily pursed her lips, contemplating the idea. She **did** want to go to Hogwarts. They'd be together, they'd be fed, and clothed and Belle could get a real education!

"I want to meet this family before I agree to anything," she decided. Dumbeldore nodded.

"Very well. I'll have a chat and send Professor Thyme," he glanced at her for permission and the Professor nodded, "to get you in a few days, alright?"

"Okay." They stood. "Thank you, Professor Dumbledore." He smiled.

"Have a good afternoon," and taking hold of the notebook again the sisters were whisked back home. Landing again in a heap on the floor Lily scowled and helped Belle up.

"Thanks," she looked around for the Professor, but she had already gone. Shrugging, Lily lead Belle back to the shop where she picked up the dust rag again. Her life was sure getting interesting.

The foster family was actually an eccentric, middle aged artist who had lived by herself since graduating high school and was now getting by with a boring computer job in the mornings and painting in the afternoon. The house was small, a kitchen bled into the living room with a small laundry room squeezed in the first floor, above which was the two bed rooms, and above which was a slanted attic with a huge window where Ms. Wilds created most of her master pieces. The entire place was covered in art. Pictures sat on the shelves, the walls had all been painted, even the wooden dining chairs were decorated in swirling colors.

It had been a week since Lily had agreed to live with her and she was actually very pleased with how things had turned out. The bed was soft and meals were wonderfully reliable. There was a shower and soft carpet, and water from a tap. Already Ms. Wilds had promised to buy a few new clothes for them that afternoon when an elderly man came buy to pay for a painting he'd requested. But more than all those things, she was finding that she trusted Ms. Wilds. Not fully, she had been wary of everyone for years, but when Belle had scraped her knees three days ago Ms. Wilds had comforted her genuinely, and helped her wash and properly dress the scrapes. And, when Belle had decided to follow the artist around all day like a baby duckling she had smiled and talked to her, even explained some of her paintings and given her a piece of paper to play on.

As Lily moved to lye more comfortably on the bed her stomach growled and a glance at the clock confirmed that it was lunch time. "Belle." At the foot of the bed Belle was playing with the stuffed bear Ms. Wilds had pulled from her closet when they first arrived. "It's lunch time." Belle jumped up and, hugging the bear under on arm, walked beside Lily to the kitchen.

As they approached Ms. Wilds looked up from her spot at the stove. The smell of grilled cheese sandwiches filled the room. They had been introduced to the delicacy on their first day there and upon hearing that they'd never tasted it before, Ms. Wilds had begun to attempt to make up for that by cooking it every lunch. No that they were complaining. They loved it. Setting plates on the table, Wilds told them to wash their hands and poured them all a glass of milk. Minutes later they were digging in hungrily.

"Lily," Wilds began once she'd finished the first half of the sandwich. "Mr. Meyers bought that painting today and I'd promised you I'd take the both of you shopping." Lily looked up, wondering where the conversation was heading. "I figured we could go to the Diagon alley after lunch. We can get your school supplies and clothes at the same time."

"Cool!" exclaimed Belle through a mouthful of cheese. Two reprimanding scowls were thrown her way. She grinned cheekily.

"Why don't we leave in half an hour?" Lily nodded and Belle smiled taking another huge bite from the greasy sandwich.

They apparated into a busy pub filled with strangely dressed creatures loudly talking amidst green smoke and the smell of alcohol. Wilds led them quickly through the room and no one spared them a second glance. They followed her through a back door to stand beside a trash can in front of a brick wall. Lily held reassuringly onto Belle's hand and they watched as she tapped her wands carefully on the bricks. Rumbling slightly they moved away to reveal a curious sight. A bustling street was packed with witches and wizards hurrying in all directions. Bright signs flashed like down town London and screamed out advertisements to passersby. Holding a little tighter to Belle, Lily ventured excitedly into the most popular street in wizard England.

"First to Gringotts," Wilds shouted above the ocean of sound. "To exchange money." Lily had no clue where they were going or what she meant, but she followed willingly, an excited Belle trailing along behind her. "

Unicorn hair, Five sickles!" a man shouted from a wooden vendor's cart he'd parked in the street. An owl screeched from a pet shop and across the road a run down shop stood out with faded paint and dusty windows. A wand shop. They passed book stores and apothecaries, a robe shop, and a odds and end shop that had everything from "crystal balls to flubber worms". Finally though they pushed away from the chaos of the crowd and walked up a marble stair case to a HUGE white building titled GRINGOTTS in royal lettering. Belle stopped turning around trying to see everything at once and instead gazed wide eyed up at the building. Never had they seen such a rich, self-important and cold building. Wilds noticed their slowing pace and turned to them.

"Don't worry, the goblins aren't dangerous. A little gruff, a little moody, but they're amazing at what they do." That did nothing to put their minds at peace.

"Goblins?!"

A winkled creature peered over a high desk at Lily as they approached. His long knobby fingers wrapped around the edge as he stared at her with unblinking amber eyes. Lily stared back defiantly, but rather afraid. She blinked, and he looked away. "What do you want?" He asked Wilds in a haughty voice.

"Good morning sir!" Smiled Ms. Wilds. "I would like to exchange muggle pounds for wizard coins, please." He looked slightly surprised at her sun shine attitude, but made no comment. The goblin took the offered pounds and disappeared behind the desk. Lily put her arm around Belle's shoulder as they waited. Moments later his large fingers poked back over the table, swiftly followed with his head and a brown back that jingled. Wilds smiled, thanked him, and lead them back into the sunlit alley.

First stop was clothes, and they darted into a muggle lovers shop where a ridiculous amount of clothes racks were pressed up against each other in a daunting labyrinth of fabric. They tried on jeans and skirts and a dress or two as well as tank tops and tee shirts and sweaters. But in the end, Lily walked to the cash resister satisfied with her modest purchases. The woman at the cashier smiled at them, and completely ignored the muggle money device, obviously having no idea how to work the thing. Instead she said, "That'll be a galleon and three sickles, four knuts." Wilds dug into the brown coin bag, paid and they fought their way back to the door with a bulging bag in their arms.

"School Supplies!" Wilds called and they were back to pushing through stubborn crowds. Hours later they had bought a wand from a creepy man who didn't have pupils, a cauldron and potions starter from a fat man who glared at them from behind the counter and turned an angry color red when Belle almost dropped a glass vial of venom, a telescope in a heavily perfumed shop that sold fortune telling tricks, crystal balls and start charts, and a black robe from a twig-like woman with a long nose and thin grey hair that she pulled back in a knot at the base of her neck. Finally they had only one things left to check off: Books.

However, it was not in the giant book shop of Flourish and Blotts that they found themselves shopping. They ended up pouring over dusty shelves of well-worn books in a second hand store beside the pet shop because they were running short on money. Belle quickly spotted the history book, below which sat the needed charms and potions books. "Magical Theory" was found a shelf over and a row back the transfiguration book was found.

However, they couldn't seem to spot the Defense book. Eventually the shop man walked over and asked to help. They gladly accepted his offer, yet not even he could spot the elusive text. So they split up and scoured the shelves with furrowed brows and deep concentration. It was in this search that Lily spotted it, because with such a thorough search no book could remain unfound. But it was the book beside it that kept her from telling the others of her find. A black hard cover book even thicker than the history book seemed to call out to her. Along the spine was a title and author, but she could not read the words. They were strange symbols Lily had never seen before. Pulling it gently from the shelf she opened it and found the strange symbols inside. Strait lines and harsh angles made black ink chicken tracks on the page. Remembering the defense book had been found, Lily replaced the black book and called to Wilds, "I found it!"

They proceeded to the register to buy the books. Lily kept thinking. Finally, as they stepped back into the crowded streets she tossed her curiosity away. "So," said Wilds, "You guys want ice cream?"

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